TITHES. 



ther, •in ihu cafe are to he oonfiJered ; and what fliall in this 

 and all other cafes of like nature be faid to be a reafonablc 

 and convenient time, is to be determined by the jury, if the 

 point come in iffiic triable by a jury ; but if it come to be 

 determined upon a demurrer, or other maticr of law, the 

 judges of the court where the caufe depends are to refolvc 

 the lame. Deg. p. 2. c. 14. Str. 245. 



And it fliall be lawful quietly to take and carry the fame 

 away. And if ^.^y perfon carry away his com or hay, or 

 his other prrdial tithes, before the tithe thereof be fet 

 forth ; or willingly withdraw iiis tithes of the fame, or of 

 fuch other things whereof predi;J tithes ought to be paid ; 

 and if any perfon do ftop or let the parfon, vicar, propi'ie- 

 tor, owner, or other their deputies or farmers, to view, take, 

 and carry away their tithes, as is above faid ; he fliall forfeit 

 double value, with colls ; to be recovered in the ccclcfiafti- 

 cal court. 2 & 3 Ed. VI. c. 13. 



And he may carry his tithes from the ground where 

 they grew, either by the common way, or any fuch way as 

 the owner of the land ufeth to carry away his nine parts. 

 But if there are more ways than one, and the queftion is, 

 which is the right way, this is cognizable in the temporal 

 court. Deg. p. 2. c. 14, 



It feems, that if tithes fet forth remain too long upon the 

 land, the owner of the foil may take them damage feafant ; 

 but then, if he be fued for them, in order to juftify, he 

 mull fet forth how long they had remained before he took 

 them ; and when they fliall be faid to remain too long is 

 triable by the jury. Watf. c. 54. 



Or an aftion upon the cafe will lie againft the parfon for 

 his negligence in this behalf : but no aftion in fuch cafe 

 ■will lie, unlefs the parifhioner hath duly fet forth his tithes, 

 and hath alfo given notice to the parfon, that they are fo 

 fet forth. Deg. p. 2. c. 14. L. Raym. 187. 



But the occupier of the ground cannot put in his cattle 

 and deftroy the corn or other tithe ; for that is to make him- 

 felf a judge, what (hall be deemed a convenient time for 

 taking it away : but the court and jury, upon an aflion 

 brought, are to determine of the reafonablencfs of the time, 

 and of the recompence to be made for the injury fuilained. 

 L. Raym. 189. 



Tithes are recoverable in the fpiritual court by the ca- 

 non law, and by divers ftatiites, as the ftatute of circum- 

 fpeSe agatis, 13 Edw. I. fl. 4 ; the ftatute of artkult cler't, 

 9 Edw. II. ft. I. c. I. 18 Edw. III. ft. 3. c. 7. I Rich II. 

 c. 13, 14. 27 Hen. VIII. cap. 20. 32 Hen. VIII. c. 7. 

 3 & 3 Edw. VI. c. 13. 7 & 8 Win. III. c. 6. 34. 1 Geo. 

 ft. 2. c. 6. 27 Geo. II. c. 20. 



Tithes in London are fubjeft to particular regulations. 

 By a decree made in 1545, according to the ftatute 37 

 Hen. VIII. c. 12. it is ordered, that the citizens and inha- 

 bitants of London and its liberties, fhall yearly pay their 

 tithes to the parfons, vicars, and curates, after the rate of 

 i6i(/. for every los. annual rent, and 2j. <)d. for every 20s. 

 rent, and fo above the rent of 10s. by the year, afcending 

 from lOs. to los., according to the faid rate. The wife, 

 children, fervants, or others of their family, taking the rites 

 of the church at Eafter, fliall pay id. for their four offering 

 days yearly, &c. Notwithftanding the fettlement of this 

 decree, divers prefcriptions for the payment of leffer rates 

 than the parfons might require by it (as to pay lOs. for the 

 tithe of a houfe, although its rent was 40/. a year, or more) 

 have been gained and allowed. But by 22 & 23 Ch. II. 

 c. 15. after the fire of London, annual certain tithes, or 

 fums of money in lieu of tithes, for fifty-one churches, 

 were appointed to be raifed by affefrments, m the manner pre- 

 fcjtibcd by the faid aft. For the ftipends of the minifters of 



the fifty new churches, provifion is made by the fevcral aftj 

 of parliament relating to them, to be raifed from the duties 

 on coals. There are alfo particular ftatutes for particular 

 churches, in London and in other places. 



Original and Hijiory ef Tithes. — The cudom of giving or 

 paying tithe is very ancient ; in Gen. xiv. 20. Abraham 

 gives jMelchifedech the tenth of all the fpoils he had taken 

 from the four kings he had defeated : in Gen. xxviii. 22. 

 Jacob makes a vow at Bethel, to give the tenth of all the 

 riches he fhall gather in that fojourn, to God. 



But thcfe tithes were free and voluntary, and, befides, dif- 

 fered in divers other refpefts from what was afterwards called 

 tithe : what Melchifedech received, was only the tenth of 

 the fpoils, not of Abraham's poftenions ; and this once, not 

 annually ; and befidc, not as matntenance, which Melchiie- 

 dech wanted not, but as homage : add, that this was only 

 from one prieft to another ; for Abraham had not only a 

 prieft in his loins, but was a prieft himfelf. And as to 

 Jacob, who was alfo a prieft, what he did was the elfett 

 of a vow, voluntarily taken, to offer the tenth of all he 

 fliould poffefs ; not to any other prieft, but to God himfelf 

 upon an altar. 



Tithe was firft legally enjoined by Mofes, Lev. xxvii. 30. 

 Numb, xviii. 21. Deut. xiv. 22. That legiflator obliged 

 the Ifraelites to the payment of feveral kinds of tithes : as, 



1. The JlrJ tithe fltJ^Kin ItyVD' which was a tithe of 

 all the fruits given to the Levites : this was not taken tfll 

 after the oblation called njSTID terumah, which was a 

 tenth part allotted to the priefts, had been made. 



2. The fecond tithe was a tenth part of the nine remain- 

 ing, after payment of the firft tithe. This tithe was fet 

 apart in each family, and the mafter of the family was 

 obliged to carry it to Jerufalem, and to ufe it there ; or, in 

 cafe he could not, he was to redeem it, or convert it into 

 money : in which cafe he was to add a fifth to it, and carry 

 the money to Jerufalem. 



3. The tithe of the tithe, was the tenth part of all the 

 tithes that had been given to tlie Levites by the people : for 

 the Levites, after they had got all their tithes of the people, 

 divided the whole into ten parts ; and in their turn gave a 

 tithe to the priefts. 



4. The tithe of the third year was another kind of tithe, 

 not much different from the fecond tithe, excepting that it 

 waslefs troublefome ; becaufe they did not carry it to Jeru- 

 falem either in kind, or in money, but kept it by them, to 

 be fpent by the Levites, the ftrangers, the fatherlefs, and the 

 widows of the phice, Deut. xiv. 28, 29. This was alfo 

 called the tithe of the poor, znithe third tithe ; and thefe third 

 years when it was paid, were called the tithe-years. Several 

 learned Jews and Chriftians, however, conceived that this 

 was not a diftinft tithe, but the fame as the fecond ; fo that, 

 as Mr. Mede apprehends, what was wont in other years to 

 be fpent in feafting, was every third year fpent upon the 

 poor. All thefe tithes are calculated to amount to above 

 one-fixth of the revenue of each perfon. 



Thefe matters are all farther explained in the Talmud, 

 in which are two books ou tithes ; alfo in the book of bene- 

 diftions, J012> '" '^e commentaries of Bartenora, Mai- 

 monides, R. Schelomoh Jarrhi, in Scaliger, Amama, Sel- 

 den, Frifchmuth, Quenfted, Varenius, Hottinger, Sigo- 

 nius, CunjEUS, Godwyn, Leidecker, &c. 



Under the new law, tithes are not eftablifhed by Jefus 

 Chrift, or Chriftian difpenfation, as they were under the 

 old law by the miniftry of Mofes ; the Chriftian priefts, and 

 the minifters of the altar of the new covenant, lived at firft: 

 wholly upon the alms and oblations of the devout. 



In after-times, the laity gave a certain proportion of their 

 o revenues 



